De Clerambault Syndrome: Current Perspective

*Tulika Ghosh and Minkesh Chowdhary*

## **Abstract**

De Clerambault syndrome is a psychological condition named after Gaetan Gatian De Clerambault in which the sufferer is under the delusion that a certain person is in love with him or her. This is a condition in which the patient, often a single woman, believes than an exalted person is in love with her although the alleged lover may never have spoken to them. Occasionally, isolated delusions of this kind are found in abnormal personality states. Erotomania may also be a feature of paranoid schizophrenia. Sometimes, schizophrenia may begin with a circumscribed delusion of a fantasy lover, and subsequently delusions may become more diffuse, and hallucinations may develop. This chapter will focus on the role of technological advancements in the origin of this syndrome in various age groups.

**Keywords:** De Clerambault syndrome, erotomania, delusion, paranoid schizophrenia

### **1. Introduction**

De Clerambault syndrome, more commonly known as erotomania or fantasy lover's syndrome, is a psychological condition which was named after **Gaetan Gatian De Clerambault** who was a French psychiatrist. He was the first person to describe it as a distinct disorder in 1921. This disorder is one such condition in which the sufferer, who is very often a single woman, holds that a person of high repute is in love with her even though the claimed person may have never met or interacted with them [1]. Here, in this particular disorder, the sufferer's belief reaches to a delusional level with gradual passage of time in spite of having strong proofs against it.

De Clerambault, to his credit, distinguished a "pure" or "primary" erotomania (more or less approximating to Kraepelin's paranoia) from symptomatic erotomanias which could occur as part of other psychiatric disorders. Because of paranoia's virtual demise as a recognized diagnostic entity in the middle of the twentieth century and because, until recently, very few cases of erotomania were described in the literature, a great deal of confusion arose about the nature of the disorder, with some authorities insisting that it was always symptomatic of other conditions and denying that erotomania could exist as a primary illness [2, 3].

Erotomania as it is commonly known can originate instantaneously, and the manifestations are often enduring. The core of the delusions is frequently a renowned person, usually an elderly, or hardly accessible individual with a higher social position. This individual may have had little or no previous contact with the patient. The object of his or her obsession can be any fictional or deceased individual or it can be someone with whom the patient has never met. The sufferer of

this condition may also believe that this particular person is interacting with them and are professing their love, by means of secret messages.

Occasionally, atypical delusions of this type are found in abnormal personality states. This particular condition may also be present in paranoid schizophrenia. Sometimes, it may begin with a restricted delusion of a fantasy lover. Later, the delusions may become more scattered gradually resulting in the development of hallucinations. A comparatively uncommon condition, this syndrome is most commonly seen in females who are having a demure personality, who get dependent quickly on others and who are sexually naive. It can be related to other psychiatric disorders, but sometimes it may also originate on its own.

Referential delusions are very common, as the sufferer very frequently perceives that the object of their love or the person whom they believe to be infatuated with them is sending them secret messages and are confessing about their love for them through some harmless cues like the green light at the traffic signal.

In secondary erotomania, the delusions can arise because of some other mental disorders such as bipolar I disorder or schizophrenia. The symptoms of this disorder may also get triggered by various substances like alcohol. It can also get accelerated by the use of antidepressants.

In this syndrome, there is a possible genetic element present as first-degree relatives of people with this particular syndrome had a family with history of psychiatric disorders. The famous psychoanalyst of Vienna, Sigmund Freud, made a commendable attempt to explain this atypical syndrome. As per Freud, this disorder is a defence mechanism which is employed by the sufferer to avert homosexual urges or instincts which in turn results in enduring feelings of paranoia, denial, displacement and projection.

Likewise, this particular atypical phenomenon was explained by some major theorists as having an instrumental role in coping with severe level of lonesomeness or a certain level of ego deficit which occurs after a major loss. This particular syndrome can be also associated with unfulfilled desires, wishes or urges. Sigmund Freud was of the notion that ungratified wishes or desires lead the sufferer towards homosexuality or narcissism. Some particular researches conducted in this area have found brain abnormalities to be present in patients with erotomania such as heightened temporal lobe asymmetry and greater volumes of lateral ventricles than those with no mental disorders.

#### **2. Historical perspective**

Initial references to this condition can be found in the work of Hippocrates, Freud (1911), De Clerambault (1942), Erasistratus, Plutarch and Galen. Bartholomy Pardoux (1545–1611), who was a Parisian physician, studied the concepts of nymphomania and erotomania. Jacques Ferrand referred to this syndrome as "erotic paranoia" in 1623 in a treatise known as "Maladie d'amour ou Mélancolie érotique". He also termed this condition as "erotic self-referent delusion" until the terms erotomania and De Clerambault syndrome came into common usage.

It was during the seventeenth century that this disorder which was known as "amor insanus" at that time was differentiated from nymphomania. Until recently, this disorder was thought to occur almost always in females, but now researches have proved that it is also found to affect males.

In the early eighteenth century, this disorder was conceptualized as a general disease, the causal factor of which was taken to be unrequited love. Later in the early eighteenth century to the beginning of the nineteenth century, this disorder was defined as showing excess of physical love. Gradually as the early nineteenth century came to an end and the twentieth century began, this syndrome was

*De Clerambault Syndrome: Current Perspective DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.92121*

explained as an unrequited love which later gradually developed into a certain form of mental disease. The period of the early twentieth century introduced this definition of having a delusional belief of "being loved by someone else" which is continuing till date.

Later in the year 1971 and 1977, M.V. Seeman gave various terminologies for this syndrome such as "phantom lover syndrome", "psychotic erotic transference reaction" and "delusional loving". Emil Kraepelin and Bernhard have also contributed significantly in the development of this disorder; they wrote about erotomania. And more recently, Winokur, Kendler and Munro contributed to the knowledge available on this disorder. Berrios and Kennedy [4] described in *Erotomania: A Conceptual History* several periods of history in relation to this syndrome which resulted in significant changes in the definition of erotomania.

Thus, it is evident from the various definitions described above that this disorder had different connotations at different times.
